MA attempting to make the right nursing program decision

CaseyD · Aug 7, 2009

Hi I've been an MA for 15 years and I loved it! However I needed to update my skills. With hard work and dedication I'll be getting my RN this December. Get your BSN. Go to a four year school. It will be worth it in the long run. Good Luck!

If you already have a Bachelors degree then you might be able to find an accelerated BSN.

mamablotto · Aug 7, 2009

I think you need to have a change in attitude. Stop looking at MA school as a waste of time and start looking at it as a sign that you should pursue nursing. Would you have wanted to become a nurse if you haven't gone to MA school? When you learn the basic stuff in nursing school like BP, injections, and so on, it will be easier for you because you already learned it. A and P will come a little easier because you've already had an intro course to it in MA school.

It makes me mad that you bash MA school so much. It sounds like you didn't do your homework and got suckered into a great sales pitch by an admissions rep. I work as an MA but it wasn't easy getting my first job. I spent the extra money and time getting my phlebotomy license (it's required in california), RMA, and CMA certifications. There are a million slack jawed medical assistants out there and you have to differentiate yourself from them. Don't discount the profession because we are very much needed in clinics, I'm the first and last person a patient sees when they come to my clinic. I give them their injections, draw their blood, file their insurance claims, send them birthday cards, give the MD/PA/NP heads up about issues, and blah blah blah. People get mad when they can't find jobs because their expectations were unreasonable.

With that off my chest...

Go for BSN. Almost all the nurses i know who went ADN ended up going back to school to get their BSN. Trust me, it's not a waste of time. Not only will you learn the clinical stuff, you'll also have to take the "fluff" courses such as english, socio, ect which will make you a well rounded person.

HeartsOpenWide, RN · Aug 7, 2009

I think you need to have a change in attitude. Stop looking at MA school as a waste of time and start looking at it as a sign that you should pursue nursing. Would you have wanted to become a nurse if you haven't gone to MA school?

This is the way it was for me! I was 19, newly married, working at Pizza Hut. I knew that there was no way that I wanted to work in a place like this the rest of my life, it was nothing glamours, it did not make any money, and I was much too smart and had way to much potentienal to stay in "high schooler jobs". My managers wife was an C.M.A. in one of the local doctors offices. I asked her about her job and though it sounded kind of cool. She explained to me that I would have to go to school for it but that it would only be one year. I had wanted to go into medicine since I was a kid but was just taking some time off of college because I had just gotten married and need SOME kind of job (that is how I ended up at Pizza Hut).

So I immediately sign up for the MA program at the JC and quit my job to start working at the Best Western and also took up my SIL house cleaning jobs because she was having her baby. I figured that becoming and MA would be a quick and cheap way (under $1,000) to see if I really liked the medical field; I did not want to spend years to find out otherwise. With the first year I knew that I wanted to go on to become a nurse. I liked being a CMA but it just was not challenging enough for me, but it gave me enough of that taste that told me I would not regret spending several years getting my nursing degree.

I graduated with my BSN in May, passed the NCLEX in June and started my dream job come true in OB last month. I have not regrets for getting my BSN. I was going to get it anyway because I want to become a CNM some day. I applied to the ADN and the BSN program in my area. The ADN program uses a lotto system so I was 72 on the wait list. The BSN program does a meritt system so I got in right away.

If money is not an issue for you I would go for your BSN, but I would apply to all programs in your area to keep your options open. Getting into nursing school is very competitive and you some times have to take what you can.

life_aknew · Aug 7, 2009

ok so i'm sure most of you had recently saw my post not long ago about how it was a waste of time attempting to become a medical assistant. so basically, i have been reviewing post around and i noticed that there have been a lot of discussions about adn/bsn programs and which ones are the best etc. my thing is it is august and i would really like to enroll in school before the end of the month, but however, i just don't want to attend school here in arkansas, only because i feel that arkansas sucks lol, but thats besides the point.

i am wanting to know that with me already being skilled as an ma, would it be wise to do adn and then transfer to bsn or go ahead and knockout 4 yr. bsn? i honestly want to do bsn, but if i'm already skilled on so much, i really don't want to be spending all that time in school right now. then i'm also thinking i pretty much won't have no choice and everything that i learned as an ma, i would more than likely have to take it all over again, thats really gonna suck. i know there is no such thing as a "quickie" rn degree, but just wanting to know the opinions of obtaining adn with my skills and truly be more clinical than administrative. not really interested in the administrative part, id rather work 2 jobs clincally than do admin and make more.

it is a nightmare just thinking about wasting more time and money investing in something thats not gonna be a perspective outlook when i get done. when i go back to school, i want to knock it out and be settled with it until the next round, not quit and have to start on something else once again like i did with this ma crap. i also want to consider online nursing college, but not sure if that would be best since i like hands on. suggestions ?!

hey there! i'm not sure about your area, but i know where i live being an ma and then moving on to an actual nursing program/career is like apples and oranges. they are 2 totally different scopes of practice and knowledge. at least, this is what i have been told. i know phlebotomy, ekg, vitals and even some of the medical terminology but i don't think that even begins to scratch the surface of what is in store for me in nursing school.

with that said, i think that if you have the time and money then you should go for your bsn. with medical assisting, that was just a trade but with your bsn-that is your blood and sweat degree. that is a four year education that (even though there is a recession now) will give you the opportunity to explore various areas of the medical field.

btw, have you taken any pre reqs or is that what you're in the process of doing now? i remember taking a&p, micro, and terminology when i went for my ma but was told by the college i'm in now that they cannot accept the credits for those classes from the school i went to

good luck with whatever you choose to do.

time4meRN · Aug 7, 2009

I've been a critical care RN for 30,years. I would say, watching the trends in nursing today, that you go for your BSN. I think you may as well do it and get it done. I wish you well. Also, you are correct. I have a friend that's an MA and she is skilled in her job but, she used to work in our ER. There were many a day that she thought she knew what she was talking about, but when she opened her mouth she looked like a fool. She knew enough to be dangerous in the ER. Good luck, sounds like your up to the chanllenge abd will do well.

msnjie4RN · Aug 12, 2009

I think you need to have a change in attitude. Stop looking at MA school as a waste of time and start looking at it as a sign that you should pursue nursing. Would you have wanted to become a nurse if you haven't gone to MA school? When you learn the basic stuff in nursing school like BP, injections, and so on, it will be easier for you because you already learned it. A and P will come a little easier because you've already had an intro course to it in MA school.
It makes me mad that you bash MA school so much. It sounds like you didn't do your homework and got suckered into a great sales pitch by an admissions rep. I work as an MA but it wasn't easy getting my first job. I spent the extra money and time getting my phlebotomy license (it's required in california), RMA, and CMA certifications. There are a million slack jawed medical assistants out there and you have to differentiate yourself from them. Don't discount the profession because we are very much needed in clinics, I'm the first and last person a patient sees when they come to my clinic. I give them their injections, draw their blood, file their insurance claims, send them birthday cards, give the MD/PA/NP heads up about issues, and blah blah blah. People get mad when they can't find jobs because their expectations were unreasonable.
With that off my chest...
Go for BSN. Almost all the nurses i know who went ADN ended up going back to school to get their BSN. Trust me, it's not a waste of time. Not only will you learn the clinical stuff, you'll also have to take the "fluff" courses such as english, socio, ect which will make you a well rounded person.

First Off thanks for everyones comments and advice, I appreciate it greatly. But I wanted to address mamablotto about her comment. In my defense, I wouldn't say that I was bashing the MA field or the work, I respect the fact that you have a clinic that you can be the main person to oversee things, however, I'm not upset about the skills that I have learned and acquired by any means necessary, I adored that part. But let me tell you, I graduated hs in 2001 knowing that I wanted to be a nurse, but really couldnt afford going to a 4 yr college at that time, i ended up going to CC to do assoc and got pre reqs but didnt get to finish because I had a car accident, then I attempted again to go to a univ in 2003, but got sick and had a lot of fam issues, so in 2007, after being a CNA for a while, I just wanted to step it up a notch so that I could have job security in the field while I had plans to pursue getting a BSN, so I went to this school for MA. It was the first time I felt like i could belong at a school, feel important and also get to work one on one hands on with things, but after graduation, life wasnt peaches and cream. I knew I had excellent grades, skills, reccomendations, and the hiring market totally flipsided differently than what it was presented before I started attending school. That was a huge disappoinment for me because my whole reason for driving 60 miles back n forth 5 days a week was a big deal, where I live, there are no major opportunities, so I had to go the next big city to pursue and I thought it would turn out great, but it didn't, so that is why I have such anger toward the outcome and not what I went there for. To everyone else, I'm just going to get a few pre-rqs out the way this fall, so that in January I will be able to start off middle level at university for my BSN.